Unification of China under harsh rule of Shih Huang-ti. Feudalismfeudalis replaced by pyramidal bureaucratic government. Written language standardized. Roads, canals, much of the Great WallGreatWal built.

Period of warfare, official corruption, general hardship. Widespread development of printing (see typetype ); paper money first printed.

Sung 960–1279

Period of great social and intellectual change. Neo-Confucianism attains supremacy over Taoism and Buddhism; central bureaucracy reestablished. Widespread cultivation of tea and cotton; gunpowder first used militarily.

Yüan 1271–1368

MongolMongols dynasty founded by Kublai KhanKublaiKh . Growing contact with West. Confucian ideals discouraged. Great age of Chinese playwriting. Revolts in Mongolia and S China end dynasty.